1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to fishing equipment and more particularly to an improved fisherman's leader caddy which is used for the transportation and storage of fishing leaders.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Of all angling components, fishing line wire (solid or stranded) or monofilament leaders have long been exceedingly troublesome to store and to transport. Due to the physical consistency of these leaders, they often become inextricably entangled into "bird nest" formations if not securely coiled or held immobile. As a result, considerable time and fishing opportunity has been lost in replacing broken leaders.
In the past, various devices have been designed to provide a means by which fishing gut or nylon leaders can be stored and transported. Typically these leader holders, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos., 2,604,721; 2,658,300; 2,659,997; 2,667,010; 2,804,717; 3,490,168; 3,785,080; and 4,005,541 employ a central holder body having a flange at one end which engages the fish hook, and a plurality of hook-like devices at the other end which are designed to hold the eye end of the leader. Often either the "hook" end or the leader "eye" end of the leader holder is provided with springs by which the individual leaders can be loosely tensioned. Furthermore, several of these devices are provided with means to adjust the separation distance between the fishing hook engaging flange, and the leader engaging hooks.
While the leader holders discussed above have been generally satisfactory for snelled fishing hooks, which are generally used in fresh water fishing, they unfortunately have been inadequate to hold the multiple leader fishing tackle used primarily in salt water fishing. This salt water fishing tackle usually employs a plurality of individual leader elements of varying sizes connected in a star configuration. Because of the different leader lengths, the leader holders of the prior art have been unsuccessful in maintaining taut each of the plural leader elements. As a result, when a plurality of multiple leader elements were attached to these holders, the various slack leader elements have been prone to entanglement, which is precisely the situation which leader holders are required to prevent.